(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a kneading trough for the industrial production of dough for baking bread, Viennese bakery products, and pastries, designed to supply a processing unit, such as a dough divider, comprising, on the one hand, one or several vats provided with kneading means and, on the other hand, means for measuring out the ingredients to supply the vat or vats at each kneading cycle.
The present invention concerns the field of equipment for the industrial bakery.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Nowadays, there are mainly two types of units for kneading dough for mass production of baking bread, Viennese bakery products and pastries. One ensures a production that can be qualified as discontinuous, whereas the other one leads to a continuous production of dough. Clearly said, while, in the first case, there are several kneading troughs in which a determined amount of dough will be produced at each kneading cycle, in the second case the unit constantly receives, from one side, ingredients, such as flour, water, salt and/or the like, and continuously delivers the dough from its opposite end.
Actually, the solution which consists in discontinuously producing dough is the most common one and makes use of several kneading troughs the vats of which are moved in a closed circuit in order to successively pass under means for supplying previously measured-out ingredients, then under kneading means, before being conveyed to the dough-processing unit, e.g. a dough divider. At that moment, the vats must be raised above the supply funnel such a divider is usually provided with. Upon emptying, these vats repeat the cycle from the beginning. Such installations are usually called dough-production roundabouts, whereby their installation can be done either on a ring or on a line. In the first case the vats move along a circular path, whereas in the second case these vats move in front of filling, kneading and emptying units arranged in a line. Installations combining simultaneously both solutions have also been devised.
It is clear from the above description that such roundabout-like installations require a very large floor area and the lifting of the vats to pour their contents into the dough divider. Raised means for supplying and measuring out the ingredients must also be available in order to successively supply these vats at each kneading cycle.
Therefore, in addition to a large floor-area requirement, there is a height requirement with these kind of installations.
Finally, the latter are of a very complex design, especially because of the means to be implemented for conveying the various vats in a closed circuit. The risks of failing are therefore high. It is necessary to proceed to many maintenance inspections to avoid the production breakdowns.
In the case of a continuously operating kneading trough, there is usually a vat with a horizontal axis inside which intervene one or several small tools for mixing the ingredients, then at progressively ensuring the kneading of the dough.
The main drawback resulting from this kind of continuously operating kneading trough is at the level of the transition periods that should be kept at each start and at the end of the production. During these transition phases and, generally, as long as the kneading trough is not at full load, the dough supplied is indeed not of a constant quality. Therefore, no production is possible during these phases, which of course results into a drop in the profitability of the installation. For the same reasons, an installation provided with a continuously operating kneading trough does not allow instantaneously transition to another recipe of produced dough. It is therefore inflexible in use.
In addition, it raises the problem of the continuous measuring out of the ingredients, which is less accurate than the measuring out per vat load.
Furthermore, though it is less space-requiring than a roundabout-like installation with multiple kneading troughs and vats, the continuous kneading trough still requires a very substantial floor area, especially if one wants it to be capable of meeting high production rates.